


Building Heaven

by ReelingReverie



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Alcohol, Bathing/Washing, Constructive Criticism Welcome, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Light-Hearted, Romance, Sappy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:08:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27964331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReelingReverie/pseuds/ReelingReverie
Summary: Nora has been hard at work building yet another project, but this time it's for Piper's eyes only.
Relationships: Female Sole Survivor/Piper Wright
Comments: 6
Kudos: 36





	Building Heaven

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry if this portrayal of Nora is a little harder to project onto (if that's what you like to do)! I wrote her how I headcanon her personality, but that can definitely change on the player's choices. Also, I'm not sure what tag communicates "I lead up to a sex scene but don't actually get to writing anything explicit" so... that's your warning lol.  
> As always, constructive criticism is welcome and thank you for reading!

"Blue, they’re staring.”

“How do you know? You can’t see.”

“I don’t need to see to know I look like an idiot.”

“A beautiful idiot.”

“I fucking know Preston can see us from the guard tower-“

“Shhh already, here’s the door, careful. Now nobody can see us.”

Piper stumbled up the stairs to their loft, led by the hand by Nora. A rag made a blindfold to cover her eyes, but she could feel the warmth of the setting sun graze her face as the climbed. The familiar tinkling sound near her head let her know they’d reached their porch- Blue’s windchime set made of keys.

“Okay, worst case scenario, you think this is a really rude, not-at-all-subtle hint, which it is not, or you may just think this is incredibly lame and stupid-“

“I already love it, and I love you. Stop worrying, stop overthinking.” She fumbled in her blindness, reaching for her girlfriend. She ran her hands up her arms, shoulders, found her face, traced her mouth with a thumb- and still managed to fall a bit off the mark with her kiss. She broke away, both of them giggling in the dark. Nora bridged the gap this time, making sure their lips met.

Nora placed Piper’s hands on her shoulders, placed her own on her partner’s hips, and started leading her, taking slow steps backwards. It didn’t matter that she was wearing a blindfold, her eyes were shut tight to enjoy the sensation of the moment.

Piper heard a loud _clang_ as she stumbled over something, then another something.

“What-“ She began, but Nora cut her off.

“Part of the surprise, sorry. Should’ve moved em.”

Finally, Nora loosened the blindfold, pulling it away, and slipped around to guide Piper from behind, hands still on her waist.

A thin sheet hung before her, curtaining off a corner of the loft. The warm glow of candles could be seen through it. She noticed what she’d ran into: a couple of tin buckets.

“Go on.” Nora whispered in Piper’s ear.

Pulling aside the curtain showed her a bathroom. Well, there wasn’t a toilet or a sink. A tub, porcelain scrubbed clean, was the main piece creating that sense. It was filled to the brim with water that almost seemed… Piper stepped closer and saw she wasn’t imagining things. The bathwater was steaming. She dipped in a hand to be sure and found it was pleasantly warm.

A tall standing mirror with only a single crack in the top right corner graced the opposite side of the space. Low shelves strung with purple hubflowers and laden with candles were built at the level of the tub’s rim. Three precious bars of soap made a little pyramid next to a bottle of unopened wine and two mismatched but unchipped glasses on a side table. A chair sat at the end where the faucet would have been.

Finally, Blue broke the silence. “I really wanted to make proper plumbing, but that ended up being too much of a task even for me, especially since we’re on the second floor. So it’s not really a very… efficient system. At all. Gotta heat the water over the fire down in the garage, and then carry it up in buckets, and hurry so that it doesn’t get cold. Codsworth ended up helping me with that part. Really got my workout there. The tub… I had to reinforce the garage’s ceiling because, well, that’s a lot of weight, and… You probably don’t care about all the details. Oh, and this isn’t me trying to say you smell-“

“Blue.”

“-I just, I used to love taking a hot bath when I got home from work, and a while back, I realized you’d never even gotten to enjoy this-“

“Blue, this is so-“

“I know, I felt really bad making it because it was so indulgent and I fully intend to figure out plumbing, hopefully maybe set up like communal showers to improve hygiene and wellness for the communities-“

“BLUE. It’s perfect. Thank you. Now let’s not let the water get cold.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll be right back.” Nora slipped away, smiling.

Piper shed her coat, hanging it on the coat rack, followed by her scarf and hat. She was less ceremonious with the rest of her outfit, kicking off her boots and leaving them where they lay, peeling off the rest to lay in a crumpled heap in front of the mirror. She picked up a rag and dipped it in the bath and began wiping the real grime off herself. It’d be a waste to end up sitting in a tub of mostly blood and mud, after all. Glancing up into the mirror, she jumped, seeing Nora watching her, holding a flower vase.

“If I’d known I’d had an audience, I would’ve tried putting on a proper show. What’s that for?”

“You’re plenty sexy without trying, love. And these-“ She set down the vase and pulled out a hairbrush, “-are for me to help you with your bath. I’ll be taking care of your hair.”

Piper stepped into the tub, letting a sigh escape her as the water eased up her calves.

“I fooled around trying to make some bubble bath and shampoo… But I’m not much of a chemist besides making things that can blow up.” Nora explained as she began teasing knots out of Piper’s thick black hair.

“God, it’ll be nice to not have to take a RadAway after washing up for once. And real fucking privacy? Can’t believe my girlfriend will just… go and build heaven for me like it’s nothing.”

“I’d build heaven and hell, tear them down and remodel both if it’d make you happy, Piper.” She plucked a twig from behind Piper’s left ear, and let herself run her fingers through her hair with each brushstroke.

“God, I wish we could’ve met back then. I mean, not the real back then. Just… An idealized back then. No war, no… homophobia. We could’ve met in college- oh you would have _loved_ college. No, wait, highschool! You would’ve-“

“Blue, I’ve been to school, ya know. I was a bit luckier than a lot of the kids out in the Commonwealth. …Even if I did skip out on that luxury my fair share of times.” Piper tilted her head back, leaning into the feel of her lover’s hands on her scalp.

“Yeah, yeah, but like… I’ll never be able to fully express to you how different it would’ve been. Without the constant weight of danger hanging overhead. I can picture you being the senior editor of the school newspaper-“

“And where were you, with your many talents? Cooking, carpentry, chemistry, robotics club?”

The brush paused. “…School government.”

“Oh shit, you were in politics?” She turned to look up at Nora in amused surprise, only to get a vaseful water dumped on her head.

“Yeah, yeah, and I got a law degree in college.” Nora admitted, avoiding her eye to reach for the wine bottle and the glasses.

“Awww, look at you, Blue. You’re red!” Piper wiped a wet strand of hair away from her face, relishing in getting a rise from her girlfriend. She always did.

“Alright, alright, wherever you were, I’d convince you to join the paper too, and come steal you away all the time.” Piper accepted the glass Nora offered, and let her pour.

“Skipping class to get our next lead?”

“Of course. …And for justice too.” Piper clinked her glass to Nora’s and took a sip.

“Wait, what the hell is this?” Piper reached for the bottle and tried to read the faded label. She quirked an eyebrow at the price sticker. “Damn, I guess two hundred years will make even bargain bum wine taste not too bad.”

“Yeah, for some reason I’ve yet to come across any safe that has a ton of wine or anything amazing in it, it’s almost always guns and money. But wow, imagine our biggest enemies being teen bullies and the American education system?”

“We’d still hold our own just fine.”

“Okay, okay, hear me out. Prom.”

“Sounds great. …What is it?”

“Wait, wait, they kept high school but forgot _prom_? Okay, that makes sense, actually.”

“I don’t- Was it important?”

“ _Not_ _at_ _all_. But also… The most important event of all four years. Half of everyone hated it, and the other half loved it.”

“What does that even _mean_?” Piper laughed, not sure if she was being messed with. She still didn’t like Nora’s idea of what baseball ‘supposedly’ consisted of. Likely true… but nowhere near as fun. However, she could hear the genuine excitement in Nora’s voice, and she cherished it.

“Okay, so.” She’d let her hands fall to Piper’s shoulders and had started rubbing her back. “It was a party where everyone would dress up to the tens. Remember Magnolia in Goodneighbor?”

Piper was surprised by the mention of her, but nodded, slipping a couple inched deeper into the water, a blush creeping across her bare skin . “Rather hard to forget.”

“Mmhmm. I noticed.” Nora teased, recalling how embarrassed she got around the singer. “Think like that. Everyone in suit and tie, or a gorgeous glittery dress. They’d get the shiniest car they could afford, or hell, _sometimes even a horse-drawn carriage._ Oh, yeah, and they voted for prom king and queen- now that was a big deal.”

“What else?”

“…I mean… I’m sure everyone danced a lot. There was probably food, like a buffet.”

“Mmhmm. ...And then?”

“They say the afterparties were really crazy, and everyone would get drunk and probably hook up with whoever.”

“So… You’re saying you don’t know?”

“Well, of course I _know_. I saw it in movies and comics…”

“But you never went?”

The hands had left her shoulders, were slowly braiding and unbraiding thin locks of her hair.

“It sounded fun in theory… but not? I wasn’t out, and wasn’t really psyched about what a guy might try to do if I took one as a date… I wasn’t an outcast, but I didn’t have any close friends to spend that many hours with. I didn’t know what I’d wear or do… I don’t dance-“

“ _Didn’t_ dance. _I_ helped to resolve that little issue.” Piper proudly corrected, taking her partner’s hand from her head and kissing it.

“Yes, you certainly did.” The melancholic tone had seeped into her voice again, and Piper knew it well. “I… It’s stupid and makes no sense, but…”

“No, it’s not. Never is. Go on, doll.” Piper turned awkwardly in the tub, splashing some water over the side. She propped her arms on the rim, and stared up at her, giving her undivided attention.

“I have more fun now.” Nora had filled her glass again, and took another sip to encourage herself. “I mean, a lot of it’s not… fun. I’m sure plenty of people _love_ hacking people and monsters to bloody bits.”

“I can think of several.”

Nora offered her another glass, and she shook her head, gesturing for her to go on. Her eyes watched her lover intently.

“But… Exploring, building, making a real, tangible difference? Having people I care about and who… rely on me? I like this. I like being me, and being out here, meeting all these crazy people and seeing all these places.”

“Am I one of the crazy people?” Even she could hear the silly excitement in her own voice.

“At the very best and worst of times.” Then Nora’s eyes softened. “I like being in a world that has you in it, even if it’s really messed up besides.”

“You make me think this world isn’t quite so messed up, Blue.”

Piper reached up to kiss her girlfriend. Nora closed her eyes… Only to yelp when she was pulled into the lukewarm water, still mostly clothed.

“Piper! My clothes-!“ Piper cut her off with a harsh kiss.

“Take ‘em off.” Piper mumbled into her lips, fingers already at the button of her jeans.

As they broke apart to pull the dingy tank top over her head, she tried again, “I’ve ruined the water, now it’s all grey-“

“Don’t care. You’re missing the point of couple’s bath time, doll. Besides, you really think that you can just give me wine…”

The jeans landed next to the top on the wood pallet floor.

“..Play with my hair…”

Her bra was gone in seconds, deftly unlatched.

“…Rub my back…”

Piper’s hands slowed to trace her lover’s spine, finally hooking the waistband of her underwear.

“And tell me sweet stories about us falling in love in another life, and expect me not to lose it?”

“Point taken.” The last piece of cloth hit the wet floorboards. “Happy birthday, Piper.”


End file.
